Liverpool's commercial income is about to get a major lift. The club expects around £60 million a year from a new front-of-shirt deal with Turkish Airlines from the 2026-27 season, and it already earns £60 million a year from Adidas, taking shirt income beyond £120 million annually.

Liverpool's kit money has become the headline

That is the bigger story than any one signing. Liverpool have revealed a £120 million kit plan, and the scale matters because it sits alongside a commercial setup that is already in place, not a one-off boost.

The timing also lands while the football side looks mixed. Liverpool are 14th in the current Premier League table, even though they head into the Atletico Madrid match with at least five players unavailable.

The Atletico Madrid build-up still carries football issues

The injury list includes Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni, while Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo have been omitted from the Champions League squad. Bradley Barcola is in contention to make his full debut, which adds another selection call for a match that already has enough moving parts.

Liverpool's recent competitive form is steady rather than explosive, with one win and four draws in their last five league matches. The recent 2-0 win at Ipswich is the clearest clean-sheet reference in that run, and it fits the sense that this is a side still sorting itself out while the commercial side keeps expanding.

Davide Massa will referee Liverpool's Champions League opener against Atletico at Anfield, and his last Liverpool match was the 1-0 away win over Paris Saint Germain in the first leg of their 2025 last-16 tie. That game also featured the Ibrahima Konate challenge on Bradley Barcola that drew a furious reaction from PSG.

Liverpool do not need the shirt deal to validate their spending power, but it does change the scale of what the club can put behind recruitment. The football story against Atletico is about availability and selection, while the financial story is about a club pushing kit income into elite territory.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →